


Infinity Train: The Star Child

by RadFish



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Grace being Grace, Simon being Simon, Steven on the infinity train, The Apex, more tags to be added in later chapters, takes place before book 3 but after book 2, the train works in mysterious ways, what will he do
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26926873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadFish/pseuds/RadFish
Summary: Steven Universe shattered Jasper. He killed somebody willingly. It sickened him, he will never forgive himself. So he runs. He runs until he is whisked away on a train ride he'll never forget.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 33





	Infinity Train: The Star Child

A Crossroads.

That’s where he felt he was. Gem or Human? It was a crossroads he always found himself. Before all of this, he felt more human than anything. Summer nights playing music with his dad, writing their own songs and laughing while eating pizza. Sleeping in the back of the van and gazing at the twinkling stars through the back window. He was a human kid with a human dad. It didn’t last. When he lived with the gems he thought things would be different, sure. Adventures and fighting monsters. All of it was different, but he didn’t think it would change the other parts of his life. Now he would just be able to play music with the gems and eat pizza with them too! He could sleep in his bed and see the glimmer of the stars through his bedroom window. Living with them would be different, but it wouldn’t change what he enjoyed or what he wanted.

Lapis Lazuli changed things. Of course it wasn’t her fault that things would change from this, but regardless it suddenly became more… dangerous then he imagined it would be. The gems took out monsters all the time with relative ease. It was all spectacle and no reality to him. Lapis wasn’t a monster though. This wasn’t a spectacle he could watch from the sidelines. It was a real threat that effected everyone on earth. Worst of all, it was his fault. He will never forget days like that one. The ocean missing, ~~_**THE FEELING OF HIS LUNGS BURNING AS HE GASPED DESPERATELY FOR AIR**_~~ , having to fight someone who was your friend. It was scary, but he was able to fix it.

He always wanted to help people, but that’s when it started. The fixing. He fixed Lapis and now the ocean was back and everyone was happy. When things got bad, he noticed that he was always able to fix it. Whenever Pearl was a mess and could only lash out and cry, he would fix it. Whenever Amethyst was depressed and aloof, he would fix it. He was able to fix Peridot, He was able to fix Lapis, He was able to fix the corrupted gems, He was able to fix the Diamonds themselves! Even White Diamond- ~~_**AFTER SHE TORE HIS GEM OUT OF HIS STILL LIVE BODY**_~~ \- was able to be fixed! He was the one who could fix people, he could help them be better! Nobody else could help themselves before…. Before now.

Amethyst started to help others too. He supported her of course, but he always thought that she could never do it like he could. ~~_**HE WAS SURE THAT AMETHYST WOULD MESS UP SOMEHOW AND HE WOULD HAVE TO COME FIX IT.**_~~ He thought at first that his interjection was ultimately helping. In the end, Steven made things worse than they had to be.

Pearl rarely broke down like she used to. Sure she would cry every now and then, but they were usually happy tears. Whenever the Rose Quartz gems showed up he thought he would have to ~~_**CALM ANOTHER PEARL TANTRUM**_~~ be a shoulder for pearl to cry on. While she freaked out, she had much more of a level reaction then he had ever anticipated. She was fine.

Everybody was fine. The Empire of slavery and inequality was torn down and replaced with galaxy wide peace and freedom. The gems were happy and healthy. His human friends were moving on from him. Everybody had their lives… Lives without him. Nobody needed fixing. He however, needed to fix.

How could they be fine without him? Surely they would need him at some point. Surely somebody would need to be fixed!

The thoughts he had were so selfish. He wondered if people would like him so much if they knew he thought this way. Thought of them as things to be fixed. ~~_**BUT THEY ARE! THEY COULD NEVER HELP THEMSELVES BEFORE!**_~~ They would probably hate him. He loved them all so much! They were so important to him, nothing to be mistaken there… But after all this, there was no way they would love him. Of course they would hate a shatterer… Just like they hate the diamonds. ~~_**I AM A DIAMOND! I AM A DIAMOND! I AM A DIAMOND!**_~~ He thought he deserved it honestly. He was a horrible fraud who has done horrible things. ~~_**LIKE SHATTERING JASPER YOU MONSTER YOU KILLER YOU SHATTERER**_~~

He was running, He didn’t know where but he couldn’t bring himself to go to the Diamonds. Even if he was a Diamond himself, he would rather talk to Kevin about his feelings than even meet eyes with them. ~~_**STRUGGLING TRYING TO GET FREE, PLEASE LET ME GO WHITE! I DON’T WANT**_~~ ~~ _ **T**_~~ ~~ _ **O DIE!**_~~ How could other Shatterers help him now? He kept running until time around him was slowed to a halt. Rushing by having not a care in the world for anything he ran through. There were no noises except his mind that was screaming at him. He didn’t even look where he was going, only knowing that he couldn’t stop. Until he heard a faint sound echo through the forest. It was a sound he had heard before. A Train Horn.

It had him stop in his tracks. Time was slowed still and yet he could still hear the faint call of a train horn. For some reason, the sound lured him to the source. Struggling through the thick brush and weeds, he was met with a smooth grey platform. It was just there in the woods, no pathway to connect it to civilization, just smooth man made stone with train tracks cutting through he middle. The sound of the Train and the clicking of the wheels against the rails started to come closer.

What appeared before him wasn’t like the Trains him and Amethyst used to hitch a ride on. It was special somehow. It looked like it came from a toy-set, multicolored and blocky. The surface was glossy and looked like it was freshly coated in paint. As it came to a stop in front of him, he wondered if he should even be here. He knows he doesn’t have a ticket, especially for any weird multi colored mystery trains. What stopped him was what the sign above the door of the train car said. Steven Universe. It was HIS name. Rather than being freaked out, he approached it. It might be some weird Gem thing, but at this point he didn’t care. ~~_**ESCAPE RUN AWAY WHO CARES WHERE THIS TAKES YOU ITS BETTER THAN BEING THERE**_~~ He took one look behind him, and took a step onto the train.

\----

He awoke to the sound of an alarm blaring in his ears. He tried to bring himself up quickly, but was only met with the thud of his forehead hitting the top of wherever he was.

“Where…” He began, only being cut off by the sounds of children’s laughter and loud thrashing outside of wherever he found himself in. It was dark and claustrophobic. He could see the light of a what looked like a TV displaying some sort of round black and white ball. It was making noise, but he couldn’t hear it over the many other noises that were flooding his overwhelmed senses.

Suddenly and without warning, a hockey stick came through the roof of the enclosed space Steven was trapped in. The young man jumped out of his skin as it nearly missed his head. It was removed just as quick, revealing light on the other side. He was beginning to panic a bit. The blush of pink already starting to form on his cheeks.

“Ok move back Josh!” He heard someone call out.

“Yes Ma'am!” The person he assumed was Josh replied.

Steven squinted and tried to peer out the hole that had been made. Trying to see if he could get an actual understanding of what was even happening. What he ended up seeing was the top of… another building? He was just in the middle of the forest! How did he get here? What was going on?

“Hey! You holding up in there?” He heard that same voice call, but this time he guessed they were talking to him. “Josh didn’t knock you out did he?”

Steven decided it was probably best to just reply. Even if he didn’t know if the voice speaking to him was to be trusted or not.

“N-No, I’m in uh… as fine as I can be given the circumstances.” He chuckled nervously.

“Oh thank goodness!” The other person said with apparent relief in their voice. “Just hold up and we’ll get you out of there ok?”

So they were trying to help him out. That let Steven relax considerably, at-least for a second before he remembered he didn’t know where he was or why he needed to be taken out in the first place. Maybe the person out there would know. Best to just go along with all of this until answers can be given.

“Looks like it’s locked… hmmm” He heard the other person think aloud. “Hey again! Can you reach your bottom right? There should be a button there that you can press to open up the pod!”

So he was in some sort of pod. Doesn’t really answer that much but its a start. Reaching to his right he felt what the person must be talking about. A big button that he couldn’t see clearly not only because of the angle, but because of the lighting. He could feel it though, and that’s what mattered. Once he pressed the button, the roof of the pod shot open and he was met with the faces of many excited children and two grinning teenagers.

One of the teens had long light blonde hair tied messily into a ponytail. He had slight stubble on his chin and what seemed to be lipstick drawn into a pattern on his face. He was wearing a white hoodie, torn khakis, and kneepads. The other teen also wore kneepads with the same lipstick pattern on her face, but she seemed to have a little more fashion sense than the other one. She wore an orange off shoulder shirt with a purple tank top underneath. She had a phany pack on her side and two long gold earrings. What stood out most about both of them though, was the line of glowing numbers going up their arms. One of which was extended out to help Steven get up, which he graciously accepted.

“Welcome to the Train kid!” She smiled to him.

“W-Wait… so I’m on that weird Train?” He was about to ask what sort of gem stuff this was, but even if it had anything to do with the gems. He doubted the humans in front of him would know.

“Yep!” The other teen chimed in, giving Steven a playful pat of the back. “You’re lucky that the Train sent you here first!”

The Train? Like the Train could decide things? Why didn’t it look like a Train? He may have not been on a passenger Train in real life, but hes seen what they look like in plenty of TV shows. Everything around him looked more akin to an abandoned mall. Graffiti with the same symbol that adorned the cheeks of all the kids and teens, with the word APEX accompanying them.

“Simon, let’s try to start from the beginning” The other teen cut in before Simon could say anything else. “Like how about our names!” She looked back to Steven expectantly.

“Oh.. Uh.. My name is Steven. Steven Universe.” He offered up freely. Half the galaxy knew who he was and these people just saved him from whatever fate that pod had in store for him. Simon rose an eyebrow at his last name while the other just gave a little giggle.

“What a cool name Steven! My name is Grace!” She smiled warmly back at him. “And this is Simon.”

“I hate to interrupt before you can mention something embarrassing about my past to the new kid, but he isn’t like the normal recruits Grace.” Simon interjected.

Steven wondered what that even meant. Recruits? Was he being recruited for something?

“Right!” She clapped her hands together and turned around towards the hoard of kids behind her. “Lets give Steven some space right now guys! After we’re done explaining everything you can all introduce yourselves!” The hoard all nodded in an odd display of unity, before breaking off into complete chaos. Grace let out another one of her giggles and beckoned Steven to follow her. “Let’s go somewhere more comfortable to explain everything, ok?”

Steven gave a nod of his own. These guys seemed nice enough, and he would like things explained to him. The two of them led him into a room that looked like a coffee shop. The counter where the subpar pastries usually would be, was cleared out and replaced with what looked like arts and crafts projects. Behind the counter were some paintings and even more Graffiti. The Chairs and tables were mostly untouched; Some of them were tipped over or had dried paint on them, but nothing was broken. Grace sat down in one of the booths. After letting Simon pick a spot for himself, he ended up sitting next to the teenage boy.

“So I’m sure you have a lot of questions” Grace started calmly. “But before all of that, you need something to drink?”

The young hybrid was feeling a bit parched after his midnight… The weight of what he had done the previous day suddenly began to press on him again. He forced it down, and tried to speak as calmly as he could towards the two. ~~_**NOT IN FRONT OF THEM, NOT NOW NOT NOW!**_~~ Before he could let out a word though, he could hear what sounded like pages flipping in a notebook. Except… It was coming from his arm? Before he could even reply to the first question asked to him, or even look at what that noise was caused by. Simon grabbed a hold of his hand.

“Hey that’s a good starting point.” Simon grinned, grabbing Steven’s arm and looking at his… glowing palm? “Woah! Grace take a look at this!” The blonde exclaimed excitedly.

On Steven’s palm he could see the number 7012 glowing in a neon green. The same neon green that the other two had on their arms. When he turned his hand however, the number continued until it wrapped up his wrist. It wasn’t as long as the other two’s was, but it was a large enough number that Steven didn’t even know if he knew what the number was. ~~_**CONNIE WOULD KNOW, BUT YOU DROVE HER AWAY**_~~

“HOLY MOLY!” Grace squealed, slamming her hands down to the table with her mouth hanging open wide. “That’s the largest number I’ve ever seen someone start with!”

“Is that.. a good thing?” Steven couldn’t help asking since nothing had still been explained to him yet. The other two eagerly nodded to him with their eyes still fixated on his arm. Luckily, Simon was the first to start actually explaining things.

“This is the Train, You saw a different version of it in the real world. The Train only appears to those that are worthy. People who are wasted in the real world. Each Train car, like the one we’re in now, has a different reality displayed in it. No Train car is like another car. It was made this way so Humans can never get bored. That number on your hand marks you as a passenger.” Simon rose his arm to show that his number was even higher than Steven thought it was. It was sorta cool looking, but he wondered what it meant. “The Train was made by the Conductor, a man with the highest number there ever was! He made the Train for passengers like us!”

Grace continued the thought with a smile, finally looking at Steven again. “The goal of the Train to get the highest number possible! The bigger the number, the better you’re doing! It took us forever to get a number as big as yours is now. Looks like you get a head start.”

“So.. its like a video game? You get the highest score?” Steven asked trying to get a grip on what they were explaining to him. Grace only giggled at that while Simon grinned even wider.

“That's the gist of it, though there are some other details that would better be explained by seeing them.” He shrugged. “Like the predicament we’re going through right now.”

The hybrid titled his head at this. Simon was visibly more tense now and Grace was also looking more serious than before.

“You see, The Conductor has been captured. Taken over by the False Conductor One-One.” Simon spit out the last name rather aggressively. “Ever since he took over he’s been filling new passenger’s heads with lies! Telling them that they need to get their number down! Trying to kick people off of our rightful Train!”

Steven turned to Grace now who was nodding along with a serious expression. Whoever this One-One was he must be bad news.

“The False Conductor started putting little intro videos in the pods, to brainwash passengers into thinking like him, and getting nulls to do his bidding! And once your number gets to 0…” Simon paused, looking at Grace who had a saddened expression her face. Steven got the idea. There were still other questions he had though. What was a Null? Was the video he saw in his pod the one they were talking about? What was up with the pods? Grace seemed to notice Steven’s distress, and responded accordingly.

“Hey, Hey! It’s ok!” She reassured him. Though he couldn’t be too reassured by a stranger he just met today, Grace seemed like she had good intentions so he let himself relax a bit. “I know all of this Train stuff can be super confusing right away. Usually passengers go through a couple cars before even getting here!”

“S-So I’m irregular?” Steven’s cheeks began to glow pink. Even in this wacky place that was probably a dream, he wasn’t normal. Great. ~~_**WHAT DID YOU HONESTLY EXPECT YOU FREAK?**_~~

“It is weird a pod would drop a passenger in a car with other passengers…” Simon mumbled to himself. “Usually they avoid cars with other passengers entirely.”

In response to this, Grace shot him an angry look. Causing Simon to deflate a little and blush slightly.

“No, No,” Grace smiled. “You’re special! You have a big number right off the bat, and you were sent straight to us! It’s almost like the Train didn’t want One-One to get a hold of you before we could!”

“That must be it!” The blonde exclaimed, making an ‘Aha’ motion with his hands. “The Train sent you straight to us so you wouldn’t be corrupted!”

“I.. don’t really understand? But at the same time I think I get it?” The hybrid looked away shyly, he was trying his hardest not to freak out right now. ~~_**GO AHEAD AND FREAK OUT. SHOW THEM THE REAL YOU**_~~

“Hey, Hey! It’s ok Steven! We’re hear to help!” Grace spoke softly, grabbing his hands to comfort him. “That’s what we Apex do. We help passengers like you get used to life on the Train! We protect our own!”

“That’s right.” Simon smiled to him, though noticeably not nearly as warmly as Grace had.

“See, As the person with the highest number it’s my duty to help others fend against that robot’s lies. That’s why I started the Apex in the first place!”

“Don’t you mean why WE started the Apex?” Simon interrupted, giving a playful smirk towards Grace.

Steven didn’t really pay attention to what they said next. He was too caught up in the fact he was apparently on some magical Train video game thing? If anything these two said could be trusted that is. He didn’t see any reason to doubt them though, They didn’t need to help him out of that Pod, and they certainly didn’t need to explain anything to him. So maybe until it’s proven otherwise… he can trust them.

“Hey space cadet!” He heard Grace say before she waved her hands in front of his face.

“Oh.. Wha- I’m sorry I was just… Thinking…” Steven turned his head to try and not let his worry show too much, but Grace seemed to catch on quick.

“Hey, it’s fine we threw a lot at you. Maybe Simon can show you to the male dorms and we can talk after you get some rest?”

That sounded nice. At-least if he woke up here again he’d know it wasn't a dream. Hopefully this dream wouldn’t be broadcast to his TV this time. As Simon and Steven were leaving, he noticed that Grace didn’t take her eyes off of him. It was probably nothing, but it creeped him out just a little bit.

“So, where you from?” Simon began, trying to initiate small talk.

Steven decided to bite, take his mind off the confusion. “Delmarva, Beach City.”

“Dang, Delmarva eh? Never been to the east coast before. Then again I got on this Train when I was just a little kid so I haven’t really been many places in the real world.”

The Hybrid came to a sudden halt after hearing that. “W-WHAT!?”

“Yeah might as well get that out of your system, there's no way off this Train.” He laughed.

He didn’t know what Simon was laughing about. That was terrifying! He would never be able to go home! Never… He couldn’t get home? Suddenly his anxiety turned into a sick form of relief. He didn’t have to go back, if he wasn’t physically able to then… ~~_**NOW THEY WONT EVER HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME AGAIN.**_~~ Now Steven was hoping that he would wake up here. He desperately hoped that this wasn’t a dream.

He could hear the sound of pages flipping again.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this! I've had this idea like I'm sure many others have for so long. So here's my spin on it.


End file.
